


Inevitable

by distorted_reality



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 19:15:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3499802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/distorted_reality/pseuds/distorted_reality
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the end it was always about the two of them. Five ways a kiss between Emma and Regina could look like.<br/>Please read the notes for more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hook

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a collection of five short ficlets. Each will be about a kiss between Emma and Regina. Each will be written from a different pov. Other relationships and characters will be featured, among them CS and OQ. I don't do character bashing. In the end it will be all about SQ, though. :)
> 
> Oh, and I own nothing. Too bad, really.

He knew it would happen sooner or later. No one became as old as he was, lived through endless centuries, without learning to understand that some things were inevitable.

It wasn't that he wanted it to happen, quite the contrary, but he knew he wouldn't be able to prevent it either.  
He had tried. Hard. He still was trying. He wanted to be good, do the right thing. He wanted to be the man Emma deserved. After so long only caring about himself, his need for revenge, he had met a woman making him want to change. Emma had looked at him, fought him and in the end, she had still seen more than a pirate, a villain. She had seen the man he had thought had died long ago.

He loved Emma. Emma loved him.

In a way. 

In her way. 

It would be enough for him, but he knew he wasn't enough for her, even if she herself seemed blind to the truth.

None of it mattered. Not any longer.

Not when he went to visit her, saw her on the street in front of her parent's apartment, arguing with the one and only person he knew would steal his woman's heart. Without even trying. Regina used to call the people she cared about 'idiot' but wasn't she the idiot for not seeing what was as oblivious as the fact the night was dark.

He shook his head, watched.

Emma was saying something, making Regina raise her head, all defiance and stone cold anger. 

He debated calling out, walking over but remained frozen to the spot. There was something about the two of them that screamed they wanted to be left alone. Usually he wouldn't listen to his inner voice, but tonight he did, mesmerized, afraid, angry.

When it came to Regina he would always be second choice, if Emma was aware of it or not.  
He heard Regina's voice, slightly raised but couldn't make out the words.

Emma turned as if to walk away, stopped, made two steps into the direction of Regina, so they came to stand face to face. Time stood still, for a second, an hour, he couldn't tell. He was holding his breath, his hand reaching out, grasping empty air. If he didn't speak out now...

Emma's head turned to the side as if she were still considering fleeing. He knew her well enough to understand it was her way to deal with trouble of any kind.

If she only turned away now. Regina said something else, Emma facing her once more, her hands reaching up, tangling in Regina's hair to pull her close, stopping short of kissing her.

He thought he could feel the sparks flying all the way over where he was standing. He knew Regina's eyes would blaze with anger... and something else.

Regina closed the gap, her arms around Emma's waist now, and he imagined her biting Emma's lip in her anger, before using the slight gasp of pain to slide her tongue into Emma’s mouth. She would caress Emma’s tongue with her own, battle for dominance but still give in if, when Emma pushed back.

It was Regina who pulled away a minute later, only for Emma to step back in, claiming Regina as her own. A soft noise reached his ears, making him wonder if he had imagined it or if it had been real.

An outcry of anguish remained stuck in his throat.

He hadn’t been there, still, he knew that it had been about the two of them from day one.

A truck came driving down the street, obstructing his view for a few seconds and when it had passed by, Emma and Regina were gone.

He looked around, couldn't see them. Were they still together, had they parted? Had the final walls finally crumbled or would he still be in the game next morning? Did he want to be, even though he knew he would only lose in the end anyway?

He turned, left for the Rabbit Hole, thinking he could still hear the faintest moan of pleasure, the sound of a woman in lust. In love.

The End


	2. Snow

It was good she had learned how to be silent, had learned not to be seen, not to be heard. An ex-stepmother who wanted you dead taught you all kinds of things. So even a once rather prissy princess could learn to be as stealthy as a thief. 

Right now it meant to remain where she was, in the middle her kitchen on her way to a midnight snack and not to move while she watched her daughter and said ex-stepmother entering the apartment.

The two were talking quietly, still their words carried all the way to the kitchen in the silent apartment.

“What happened? Did they all decide to move out? It’s never been that silent here.”

Emma shrugged, not even bothering to look around, her eyes on the woman beside her.

“Neal’s finally sleeping through the night. They all need to catch up on sleep.”

“I see.”

It didn’t sound as if Regina was actually listening, and Snow wondered what had brought her here along with Emma. 

After all, she wasn’t Hook who made sure he saw Emma home after every date, a fact that David approved of and that had her roll her eyes. She thought it was sweet how hard he tried to be a good man, if only to impress Emma, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he was aware it was all in vain. In the end Emma wouldn’t be interested in a happy ending with him, of that Snow was sure.

Regina looked around the room, then at Emma, the smallest of smile playing around her lips. Silence reigned between them, both of them not moving and it was awkward, yet… it was not. There was tension between the two of them and there wasn’t really a doubt in Snow’s mind how this would play out, she just wasn’t sure about how it was going to happen.

Somehow it was ironic. For so long she had tried to gain any kind of information from her rather secretive daughter and now that she wasn’t even trying at all, she had gotten a front seat.

“Well,” Regina said quietly. “I guess I better go now.”

“You sure? How about a nightcap?”

Snow shook her head. Somehow she didn’t think the two women would appreciate finding she had been there all along. It wasn’t that she had tried to hide, there just hadn’t been a second to announce her presence.

“Thanks, but no thanks. Let the i… let them sleep. Who knows, a good night of sleep might return some smarts to them.”

“When will you ever admit that you actually like them?”

Way after the day she might admit she cared for Emma, if Snow had to guess.

Although she hoped the former would happen soon. It had been obvious from the very beginning that there were strong feelings between these two women. Frustration, anger, even hate and… something else. It was that something else that had truly began to blossom during their time in Neverland, had strengthened over time even though they had both begun dating men. 

These emotions had always been present, even when Emma had brought Marian back from the Enchanted Forrest, had effectively destroyed Regina’s feeble happiness. 

Snow thought it wasn’t the fact her lover was taken from Regina that had hurt her former enemy the most, but the fact it had been Emma to cause that hurt.

Regina didn’t trust easily but Snow suspected she had begun trusting Emma on an instinctive level that defied all rational explanation and would surely scare her.

Snow had tried talking to her husband about this all once but David didn’t even seem to want to understand, had said she was seeing things. Yes, she was, and with her own eyes either.

Emma was smiling her half-smile again, the one that told Snow she was feeling the awkward. It was the very one that spoke to all of Snow’s senses, made her want to wrap her arms around her daughter, telling her it would be okay. She had never dared, knew it wouldn’t be wanted, but even when she had never gotten the chance to truly mother Emma, it was a craving that she would carry inside her until the day she died. After all she was still a mother, loved her daughter more than she loved her life.

“Okay then. Thanks for tonight.”

Regina didn’t seem to be immune to Emma’s smile either, the look in her eyes softening a degree.

“Well, you still have lots to learn.”

“I don’t know. Nothing broke, I didn’t set anything on fire…”

“Yes, yes, you’re making progress. Goodnight then.”

She was about to turn, the tiniest movement of her body indicating the fact, but then she didn’t as Emma’s smile had changed, was broad, almost playful now. It held Regina captivated, had Snow holding her breath.

“Are you implying I’m becoming good?” Emma asked, raising one eyebrow.

“I’m telling you that you’re impossible.”

“Maybe. But I’m also good.”

Emma laughed out quietly, Regina growled and their lips met in a kiss that seemed as natural as breathing. It was just a quick meeting of lips on lips, Emma pulling away right the next second. 

Regina shook her head slightly, her eyes never leaving Emma’s as she leaned back in, this kiss being deep, slow, and so sensual Snow wanted to close her eyes even though she couldn’t, mesmerized by the sight. Emma made a step forward, effectively pinning Regina to the door, her arms on both sides of Regina’s head.

They wouldn’t… not here… not now… would they?

Neal’s cry had them all freeze for a second, Snow not sure if she felt relieved or not.

Emma and Regina had parted, the latter wiping a smudge of lipstick from Emma’s mouth .

“Time to leave.”

She smiled at the blonde before she was gone in a cloud of purple smoke. Emma rolled her eyes, stood still for a moment, before she turned to the stairs to her room.

Snow heard David’s voice, heard Neal crying louder. It was time to take care of her son.

Emma had finally left for good and Snow snuck out of the kitchen.

Her daughter was truly in love with Regina, a feeling obviously returned. It was Snow’s turn to shake her head. Only in fairytales…


	3. Robin Hood

Ironically, it had been Emma who made him suspect he was fighting a losing battle.

A tiny moment, a shared look between Emma and Regina at Granny's, and he had begun to think, that in the end, loving Regina with all he was wouldn't be enough.

It had been just a second, but it was enough for another crack in a heart that had endured its share of pains over the year.

He had been looking over at Emma when she said something to Regina and Emma's eyes had lit up in response. She had rolled her eyes and there was a smile she could hardly hide, waiting to break free.

He hadn't caught what she had said, but still, for that moment Emma had looked so... radiant, alive. He had looked at Regina next and although he wouldn't be able to explain it, it had felt as if only the two of them existed in that particular moment.  
Emma looked at no one like that. The way she looked at Henry came close, but it wasn't the same. She didn't even look at Hook that way, and he was supposed to be her boyfriend.  
This look; it had been a punch to the gut. It had stolen his breath for a second, with anger coiling bitter in his stomach.

No, just... no.

Regina was his. She loved him. He loved her. Right? Where there was love, there would be a way. There had to be. Human beings couldn't exist without hope to sustain them. He had to hope, to believe.

That day, he had shoved the nauseating feeling inside him aside, had continued to ignore everything that made loving Regina the worst idea he ever had. Not that he had had a choice in the first place. Falling in love was nothing you planned but something that happened unexpected, most often if you thought about it the least.

Was that what had happened to Emma and Regina.One day they were enemies, the next they had fallen in love?  
No. He had to get these thoughts out of his mind. Now. Forever.

Didn’t he have other things to worry about? Marian was cursed, frozen, with no cure available to her. It should be the most important thing in his life. He should feel despair that the wife he had lost once was all but gone a second time.Still, as hard as tried, he couldn't find the love he once had for his wife, his soul, his heart burning for Regina. 

In a way, he would always love Marian but what they once had was only a faint memory now, while his feelings for Regina made him crazy with want, desire, the wish for more. He wanted a life with the former Evil Queen. He knew people thought he was crazy. They were right, and yet, it didn’t change a thing.

Sometimes he didn't know the man he had become, still, there was no going back.  
He loved Regina.   
He had no idea how this would all have played out, if he hadn't stumbled over Emma and Regina a few days after, the two completely unaware of his presence while it felt as if his heart shattered into a thousand pieces.  
He had wanted to see Regina, to talk to her, to be near her., and not finding her at her house, he had wandered the streets when he saw Regina’s car parked in front of the Sheriff’s station. Internally sighing at the thought of Regina having gone to see Emma, he went inside.

It was silent, too silent inside, and he couldn’t help himself but to slow down, to listen for any sound, breathe as quietly as possible. It was instinct. This silence seemed unnatural. It was never really quiet in here, not that quiet, anyway. Had something happened? Worry turned into a tight knot inside him.

He rounded the corner, stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth hanging open.

Regina stood in front of Emma, her hands on both of Emma’s upper arms. Emma looked forlorn, was biting her bottom lip. Regina’s eyes were on Emma, intense, sad, a sheen of tears making them glisten.

Emma shook her head, opened her mouth as if to say something but didn’t.

Regina’s lips curved into a smile that was as sad as the look in her eyes, and the sight broke his heart just a little. He wanted to speak out, walk over and wrap his arms around Regina to offer comfort.

Hell, he was the man she loved, so why did he feel like an intruder by just standing there?

He expected one of them to speak, for one of them to step back. Instead Regina reached up, brushing one strand of hair from Emma’s face, her hand lingering, cupping Emma’s cheek.

Emma’s eyes closed, the hint of a smile playing around her lips. Regina’s eyes seemed glued to Emma’s lips, her own opening.

Emma’s eyes opened, and he couldn’t say who moved first and closed the gap between them. Their eyes never closed while their faces aligned, their mouths meeting in a kiss that was so tender and sweet it hurt.

A soft laugh escaped Emma, and it caused Regina to pull away, looking at Emma with questioning eyes. Emma just leaned back in, their kiss deepening, a faint moan escaping Regina’s lips, making Emma tangle her hands in Regina's hair.

He felt he could scream, wanted to give voice to his rage. This wasn’t fair, wasn't supposed to be.

He should address them, stop this, but what rights did he have? None when he had a wife, a son deserving an intact family. Turning on his heel, he buried his hands in the pockets of his pants, ducking his head while he all but fleed.

How could he move on from this?

Was this real? Were their feelings real? Or was it only sexual attraction? He knew the answer, only that he didn’t want to acknowledge it.

So in the end it was Emma who was the reason he could bring himself to leave town, leave Regina. It wasn't for Marian, for Roland... harsh facts that hurt to acknowledge, but it was the truth, and he didn't want to lie to himself. He had committed too many sins already.

He left town because it was a fact that staying would break his heart. Leaving broke it too, it just meant a quick, clean break.

Regina might think she loved him, and on some level, she surely did, but it was time to face there was another love in her heart, one that would help her heal from this, until what they had would be all but a memory.

He hated it, resented Emma and even Regina a little. He resented himself the most.

Moving in for a last kiss, his heart heavy, he looked at the woman who owned his heart.

Maybe in another time, another realm… maybe he would even start to believe it if he told it to himself often enough.


	4. Emma

It was too much. Closing her eyes, her hands balled into tight fists, she took a deep breath, trying to calm down enough so she could walk away with her dignity intact, instead of fleeing as every cell in her body told her she should do.

„Emma?“

The voice, quiet and rather gentle had her open her eyes. She shook her head.

„I can't.“

„You can't... what?“

There was no way to mistake the concerned look in Regina's eyes for something else. 

It was amazing to think how far they had come, from enemies, to friends, to...

Another wave of anxiety, of anger rolled over her. How could one deal with so many conflicting emotions?

In the past she wouldn't have hesitated, would've left her problems behind her, moved on. Now she, too, was mother of the son she had given away when still being a teeanger herself. She had her family, her friends to think of.

„I'm so sick of it,“ she said, biting down her lips.

„Sick of what?“ 

It wasn't long now and Regina would lose her patience. They had come to know each other well over the years. Emma knew the other woman almost as well as she did herself, maybe even better.

„This town. The fucking lies. My family. Hook...I mean Killian and... Robin.“

Regina's eyes narrowed.

„Robin? What does he have to do with this?“

This... Just a tiny word for the fact her parents had lied to her, had enlisted Regina to solve their problems.

„Nothing. Everything.“

Emma was frustrated with herself, with the things she knew for certain and the things she didn't want to admit even to herself.

„What do you even want with this guy? Really? He doesn't deserve you. True love, my ass. Isn't he supposed to love Marian? What do you want with a man who was trailing after you like a love sick puppy when he should've cared about his frozen wife. You're worth more than that.“

She hadn't meant to say any of this, true as it was, and she was sure her eyes mirrored the shock she felt.

Regina's expression of hurt moved into one of anger within seconds.

„So noted, but how about you concern yourself with your own ill-advised relationship with Mr. Scruffy Pants and let me deal with my own life. I apologize for asking for your help in the first place. I will...“

„Oh, stop it, damn it. You know I'd do whatever you asked me to do. And you'd do the same for me. And Hook.. I... It's not as if I had an option here. It's... complicated.“

She was rambling, stopped before she ended up digging herself an even deeper hole.

„Complicated? I'm sorry to tell you but I doubt your pirate is a very complex being.“

„He's not my pirate. He's not my anything. And to think he believes I'm his happy ending. God, I'm sick of it all.“

„Well, I hope you'll figure out your life, I'll go and figure out mine.“

Regina turned to leave and Emma's hand shot out, reaching for the other woman.

„Regina, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I mean it, I'm your friend. I'll help you find Robin if that is what you truly want and need.“

Regina didn't turn, but at least she stood still. Emma didn't let go of her, afraid the tide would turn against her as soon as she did. She expected David to be back at the station every moment, yet she didn't care.

„Why is everything so fucking complicated?“ she asked, knowing quite well there was no answer.

„I don't know,“ Regina said, her voice calm, tired.

„Regina, I'm sorry, forgive me.“

The mother of her son nodded.

„You know, we should just take Henry and move to an empty island. Just the three of us. And damned, the thought shouldn't sound so appealing.“

Regina turned to her, the expression on her face unreadable.

„I wouldn't mind.“

Neither would Emma. Their gazes locked. Why was everything so easy when she was just with Regina but turned so complicated when they added Hook or Snow, or David or Robin to the mix? Shouldn't love free you instead of being a burden? Was it love when it felt like stealing your breath but not in a good way.

„Let's do it?“ Emma said, annoyed at how weak her voice sounded, how vulnerable.

„Everyone would be conviced I abducted you against your will, you know,“ Regina said, her mouth turning into a small smile.

„You're not the Evil Queen any longer. And people know you have a soft spot for me,“ Emma quipped, wincing as soon as the words had left her mouth.

Regina rolled her eyes. 

„I do? Why was I not informed. Anyway, I better go now.“

In spite of her words, Regina didn't move and neither did Emma. 

Emma closd her eyes for a second.

„Regina...“

The older woman shook her head.

„For god's sake.“

Regina stepped in until Emma and she were breathing the same air.

„Emma, this is a bad idea.“

Emma frowned, her heart beating fast in her chest, knowing what Regina was telling her, while she still couldn't admit it to herself.   
„I know, but...“

Sometimes it seemed they couldn't be with each other, but to be without Regina, it wasn't an option either. Not any longer.

„I need to find Robin.“

Really? Now? Why did she have to mention him now. 

„Oh, fuck it. Fuck him. I...“

She had enough, bridged the gap between Regina and her, their lips crushing together in a kiss that was ferocious, angry.

Had she thought about it, Emma would've expected Regina to step back, slap her, but instead the brunette swiped her tongue over Emma's lips, demanding entrance something Emma didn't even contemplate to refuse.

This was wrong on some many levels but at the same time just what she needed, wanted. She moaned out, holding on to Regina as if her life depended on it. 

„Yes, Snow, I know...“

David's voice on the phone, had them break apart and not a second too early as he stepped inside the room. Their eyes met again, Regina's showing the desperation Emma felt. Nothing was solved, if at all, Emma had complicated life for the both of them once more.

Although they couldn't move on as they had, could they? 

„Yes, Snow. Bye.“

David ended the call, looked at the two of them.

„Hey, how you're doing?


	5. Regina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This last chapter is meant to play in the future after all is said and done.
> 
> I really want to thank everyone who read, left kudos and/or commented on these ficlets. I've written for many fandoms (under different accounts) and it's true that  
> I never experienced such a support for a writer gefore. This is amazing and leaves me humbled.  
> Thank you!

After all was said and done it was still about the two of them. 

Taking Emma’s hands into her own, Regina looked down at their joint hands, sighed. She was tired, bone-deep tired.  
Although she would never stop fighting for those she loved, those she cared for, she didn’t want to fight any longer.

She wanted her family, an average life, although she knew her life could never be quite average. Not when she had magic in a world without it, when she had made enemies left and right. 

Life hadn’t been average before the Savior had come to save those entrapped by her curse, and it surely wasn't afterwards, not with Emma around. If she was honest, she never wanted to get back to these 28 years of tedium, although Henry had made life so much better the last ten of those. 

Regina thought about Emma. No matter the stage of their… relationship, Emma had always made her feel alive. 

Emma Swan, the mother of her child, her friend, her…

Maybe it was best to say theirs was a complicated relationship.

She looked up at the woman in question, who was still looking down at their joined hands. Regina shook her head, couldn’t believe how close Emma had been to sink into darkness. Regina had lived in this darkness for a long time, and she knew how close Emma had come to never fight her way back out of it. 

Too see a person so good, always trying to help everyone else, giving in to rage, anger and desperation, it had hurt more than Regina could ever admit. 

What would Henry do without Emma. 

What would she do without the annoying blonde that was so dear to her heart.

“Thank you,” Emma said so quietly Regina could hardly hear her.

“There’s nothing you have to thank me for. I distinctly remember a time or two where you were the one saving me.”

“You know, people used to say I’m the Savior. I guess it’s part of the job description.”

It hurt to hear Emma sound defeated. Regina grit her teeth but didn’t speak out what was on her mind. Emma deserved better than anyone's pity.

They should go and leave the woods, make their way back home. Her home. There was no way she would let Emma out of her sight tonight. The Charmings were welcome to fight her on that. 

What on Earth had Emma’s parents be thinking anyway? Not at all, most likely. They were good people, the both of them, with a strong sense of what was right or wrong but ometimes what they thought was the right path was clearly the wrong, one, and sometimes they were so deep into following the path they had set for themselves they refused to see what was right in front of them.

“What are you thinking about?” Emma asked, her eyes finally meeting Regina’s. The vulnerability in them tore at Regina’s heart, made her want to cradle Emma until the blonde would believe her that everything would be alright again. 

“This and that.” Regina shrugged.

Emma cracked a small smile. “I didn’t know clumsy evasion was your thing.”

“Well, I will have you know that I’m not evading anything. And I doubt I have a thing.”

“And here I thought you had a thing for me,” Emma quipped, although she spoke with a quiet voice, not quite carrying the humour that may have been intended. Leave it to Emma, though, to put her foot in her mouth, though, and at the most inappropriate time either.

“That might very well be, still, we should leave.”

Finally a reaction, a sharp gaze focusing on Regina, probing, testing. Regina didn’t move, let Emma search her face for whatever it was she needed to see. They were still holding hands, but Regina was loathe to mention it, lest Emma would try to break the connection and run.

“Sometimes I think I know everything there is to know about you, and sometimes I think I don’t know you at all,” Emma said.

“That’s how it’s supposed to be, don’t you think? It would be boring if we could predict each other’s every move.”

“Although a calm day now or then, a really, boring and predictable day could be nice.”

Emma broke their gaze, looked over Regina’s shoulder now, her gaze unseeing.

“Yes, it would be.”

They were silent for a long minute, Emma lost in her own thoughts, Regina lost in Emma.

“Let’s go and see Henry, okay?” Emma said.

“Yes, he’ll be pleased to see you.”

“Even after everything I’ve done?”

Regina laughed out, a bit surprised at how bitter the sound was.

“He still loves me, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, he does. And how could he not? You do everything for those you love. He couldn’t ask for a better mother.”

It weren’t just words, it was what Emma believed to be true. Emma believed in her, just as she believed in Emma.

“Well, he’s got two mothers who do their best to spoil him rotten, don’t you think?”

To her surprise and horror, she saw tears building in Emma’s eyes, although the blonde did her best to hold them back.

“I wish…”

“You could undo what you’ve done? To go back and make it right? As Henry would say: been there, done that. You just can’t. All you can do is live with what you did, to never forget it and let it help shaping you into a better person. And if it’s any consolation, you didn’t ask to be turned dark but lost a good fight, whereas I searched and found the darkness inside myself.”

Emma squeezed her hand.

“It’s not that easy. Didn’t you say yourself so often that it’s never that easy?”

“Yes, but…,“ she started and paused.

She was tired. Tired of questions that couldn’t be answer,d of trying to make sense of what she had thought to be fate, of the things never voiced between Emma and herself. 

“But…?”

Looking Emma square in the eyes, Regina braced herself, not knowing if she was contemplating the best or worst thing in her life, but she was desperate, couldn't stop herself from the impulse to reach out, to touch.  
And if she could make Emma think of something else for all but a second...  
Making a last step forward so they almost touched, she leaned in, pressing her own lips against Emma’s for a brief moment before pulling back.

If she had thought it would stun the blonde, distract her from her misery, she had been wrong.

“Now?”

It was Regina who was speechless for a moment, not having expected that reaction.

" Now? I don't know what you mean with 'now'. In case you’ve forgotten. There were these little problems like beating fate, authors, dark impulses… oh, and you had a pirate attached to your hip.”

A real smile appeared on Emma’s lips.

“At least I didn’t contemplate building a cabin in the woods.”

And just like that, the tension broke, Regina laughing out, as did Emma. It felt good, a bit like the normalcy she craved so much. It wasn’t that Emma and she had shared many a laugh before ,but for quite some time before their last ordeal there had been an easiness between them that was as soothing as it was alluring.

"I love when you laugh,” Emma said.

“Thank you,“ Regina said, feeling pleased for no reason. 

"And I love your smile.”

Regina hadn't been aware she was smiling.

Emma’s lips on her own, were a surprise, unexpected but not unwelcome, and laughter turned into passion, a raging storm of desire, want, unvoiced dreams and fantasies. This was a mistake, meant opening quite a different can of worms but how could something that felt so right be wrong?

Emma's hands trying to sneak under her shirt, had Regina withdraw, hoping Emma wouldn't take it the wrong way.

"Not here, just... not here and now.“

The look of hurt morphed into one of understanding. When had they become so good at silent communication anyway?

"But later?“

"Definitely later.“

How could she resist Emma after this first taste, her body seeming to burn from desire, making it hard to concentrate, to be reasonable. 

Regina knew they had a rough road ahead of them, Emma had to heal from her ordeal, there was Henry, their family...But for now, they had later.


End file.
